Orange-drier.



J. W. STEVENSON.

ORANGE DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED DEc. I3. I9I5.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

.1@ D STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

JAMES W. sTEvENsoN, or mvnnsrnn, CALIFORNIA.

ORANGE-DRIER.

lnaooywa Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. 1o, 191e.

Application mea December 13, 1915. serial No. 66,642.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, J Arms W. STEvENsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Riverside, inthe county lof Riverside and State of California, haveinvented a new various devices have been developed for do`f ing this. In many of these devices a blast of airisused to promote evaporation on the surface of the oranges.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an orange drier which willdry the oranges in a superiormanner, and which may be operated with the consumption of comparatively little power.v

In the previous devices which have been proposed or adopted, the air blast is ob tainedfrom a pressure blower or some similar device. It isnot necessary that the air which is directed against the oranges be under any considerable pressure, and in my invention I employ a plurality of relatively slowly moving fans, these fans being placed directly above a table across which the oranges are moved. As these .fans are of large size, and as they, are evenly distributed over the top of the table, it is not neces# sary that they be driven at a high rate of Speed, and in practice they are driven relatively slowly, moving a large vvolume of air at a low velocity, so that considerable power economies are effected over former types of driers.

Further objects and advantages w'ill be made evident in the following specification.

In the drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only: Figure 1 is al plan view of my device, the hood and a portlon of the fans being shown broken away to better illustrate the invention. Fig.v2 is a sectional viewv taken on a plane represented'by the In the form of the invention illustrated,

four'uprights 11 are provided, these uprights carrying an upper frame 12 to which a hood 13 is secured. The hood I3'can be economically made of canvas, or similar fabric, and consists of a top 14 to which are secured end walls 15 and dividing partitions 16. The hood 13 is .open at either side. Carried in bearings 17 on cross members 18 are a plurality' of shafts 19 upon each of whichis secured a squarewooden block 20'. Clamped to the'block 20 by means of metal strips 21 are a plurality of oil cloth members 22.' Secured to one end of each of the shafts 19 are sprockets 23, these sprockets being connected together'by chains 24 so that they move together, the first of these shafts being driven from any suitable source of power by means of a' sprocket 25 and a chain not shown. Secured to the uprights 11 are tracks 30, and turning in bearings 31 secured to the uprights 11 are shafts 32,' these shafts carrying sprockets 33 over which chains 34 pass, certain of the links of the chain having pins 36 formed thereon.- Turning freely on the pins 36 are a plurality of rollers 37, these rollers rolling over the upper surface of the tracks 30, and

`carrying the oranges 40 thereon. The shafts 32 and chains 34 are driven from a source not shown by means of a sprocket 41.

The operation of the invention is as follows: Oranges being fed to the rollers 37,

and the rollers being driven through the chains 34, sprockets 33, shaft 32, and the sprocket 41, the oranges 40 are carried across the drier being turned over and over in their progress thereacross. The shafts 19 being driven by means of the sprockets and chains y23, 24 and 25, the yfabric members 22 are slowly rotated acting as large fans which draw in air at either end, forcing it, downwardly against the oranges 40 as they pass thereunder. The end walls and partitions 16 coperate with the top 14 to force the air from the fans downwardly.

' I find in practice that my invention operates with much less power, and occupies much less space, than driers of the ol'd type in which a pressure blower was used to dry the fruit.

Iclaim as my invention 1. An orange drier comprising a flexible endless conveyer over which the oranges are carried, a series of shafts parallel with and above said flexible endless conveyer and at right angles to the line of motion of the oranges, and a series of fans secured to said shafts. i

2. An orange drier comprising a flexible endless conveyer over which. the oranges are carried, a series of shafts parallel with and above said ilexible endless conveyer and at right angles to the line of motion of the oranges, a series of fans secured to said shafts, and an inclosing hood about Said fans ,for directing the air from said fans against said oranges.

3. An orange drier comprisiga flexible endless conveyer over which the oranges are carried, a series of shafts parallel with and above said flexible endless 4conve er and at right angles to the line of motion of the oranges, a series of flexible blade fans of oil cloth or similar non-hygroscopc material secured to said shafts, and an inclosing hood about said fans for directing the-air from said fans against said oranges.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Riverside, California, this 6th day ofDec., 1915.

JAMES W. STEVENSON. 

